


Call of the Night

by spidermaster14



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Began this story 8 years ago, Canon Divergence, Hiccup/Toothless - Freeform, Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, M/M, Magic, POV Multiple, Romance, Still working and updating, Transferred From FF, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 16:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18056132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spidermaster14/pseuds/spidermaster14
Summary: Upon achieving that which he sought for so long, Hiccup finds that the love of his peers is less fulfilling than he hoped. Particularly in comparison to the love he finds outside of what he's known. The young Viking will discover the life altering implications of a bond that runs far deeper than any human could suspect.Important Note: This story will contain idealogically sensitive material and descriptions of graphic violence.This story begins within the canon of the first movie before diverging.





	1. Stars

Berk was asleep - most of Berk, anyway. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was up and about, of course. How could he be asleep when he was flying?

Tonight had been a close call; Astrid had been mere yards away from Toothless, a situation he had found almost intolerable. That girl loved violence far too much. Hels, the whole damn village loved violence far too much! If they could just be calm and peaceful once in awhile, they might notice things; things like the way light filtered through the forest on a summer day, or the way the waves glowed in the light of a full moon. Vikings never noticed such things, but Hiccup did. 

Even now, looking down on the village from on high, he could see the last Vikings that weren't on watch making their way into freshly built homes to extinguish the lights within, completely unaware of the presence of the feared Night Fury high above them.

He wasn’t very good at matching Toothless’ movements yet. Often a late adjustment caused them to start listing to one side or the other, until the dragon gave an annoyed snarl and swatted backwards with his ear. For the most part, though, they stayed aloft.

"How you doin’, Bud?" Toothless gave an amused sounding growl and tapped Hiccup's leg lightly with his ear, as if to say, "How do you think?"

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath of chill night air. His view extended from the the island of Berk below him, out to the horizon where the vast spread of twinkling stars disappeared into the silky blackness of the ocean. From up here, the village that held him captive and the people in it seemed tiny and so far away.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Toothless’ rumble of agreement sounded almost like a sigh. 

After a few moments of peaceful calm, Hiccup realized that they were soaring directly past the cove beneath.

“Um Toothless! Toothless abruptly collapsed one wing and Hiccup found himself clinging for dear life as the dragon beneath him rolled and dropped, diving towards the cove beneath them.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible landing. Toothless managed to stay upright and Hiccup managed to land more or less on his feet after flying forward over the reptile’s head. After taking a moment to ensure that he would not lose his balance, Hiccup turned and lifted his arm to meet the scaly head that followed him.

As the dragon thrummed, the boy glanced up at the sky and found that it was later than he had first thought. "Hey bud, it’s gotten late. I need to get back if I’m gonna get any sleep before training tomorrow." Toothless tackled his human and began to lick the boy’s face with savage affection. "Ok! Ok! I know you don’t want me to! But if I’m going to keep you safe the bunch of them can’t suspect anything!” Hiccup reached up and began to tickle the inside of Toothless’ shoulder. The dragon gave a yelp and almost fell sideways, giving Hiccup room to roll away and escape. After getting to his feet, the small Viking continued. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s for your own good you big lug. Now, you should let me take off that saddle if you want a good night’s sleep." 

With a snort, the dragon sat and allowed Hiccup to approach. The dark of night made the boy a little clumsy and it took a few seconds longer than usual to get the buckles to separate, but the saddle eventually came off. The tailfin stayed in place and locked in a closed position, as leaving it there helped Toothless to balance on the ground properly.

Hiccup quickly stashed the saddle beneath a nearby bush and turned back to Toothless whose eyes had grown wide and imploring.

“I’m sorry Bud! I’ve got to get back.” Hiccup stepped forward and rested a hand on the dragon’s face. The wide eyes closed and a thrum resonated through Hiccup’s hand and up his arm. He leaned in and rested his face against his companion’s.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll go for a real, serious flight.”

Toothless’ loud cries of joy followed Hiccup as he left the cove with a smile on his face.


	2. An Unfortunate Outcome

Hiccup

When Hiccup woke the next morning, he was quite disoriented. His bed and furs somehow felt cold and abrasive, and not at all comfortable. With a writhe and a shove he tossed the covers away and leapt from his bed. The room seemed chilled and lonely as he stumbled toward the stair, making his way down to the main room of the house.

He set a light in the hearth and left it among a stack of dried boughs to grow, as he stepped out through the back door to the large wooden tub that served as a place to wash. After stripping down, Hiccup held his breath and plunged into the icy water. After some brisk scrubbing and a great deal of shivering he leapt out of the tub and dashed back inside, grabbing a large towel from beside the door and hurrying his way over to the hearth soaking up the heat from the now merry blaze.

XXX

The Gronckle Hiccup was supposed to be fighting was circling the ring, looking for him and Astrid. He could see Astrid crouching behind cover a good deal closer to the dragon than was healthy, waiting for an opportunity to leap when it’s attention was elsewhere.

Why had he let his father throw him into this? He watched as the blond leapt and made a swing at the Boulder-class dragon, only to have the reptile dodge and fire a melted bolt back at her which was narrowly avoided with a raised shield and a leap. She was, however, blown backward by the force of the explosion.

The dragon rushed in to neutralize the threat. Hiccup groaned when he saw that Astrid was actually going to get herself killed. With a grunt he whipped his helmet off his head and hurled it.There was a soft thunk as it bounced off the side of the armored skull.

"Damn it." The Gronkle now focussed on him and charged, its tiny wings beating frantically. Hiccup turned and began to run in the opposite direction, hoping to make it to another of the wooden barricades to hide behind. The oncoming buzz of the Gronkle’s wings however was far faster than he could run. He planted his feet and leapt perpendicular to his path.

He could feel the rush of air as the Gronkle very narrowly missed his trailing leg. Upon hitting the stone, he rolled and was treated to a view of an enormous black maw hovering over him with the glow of molten stone building in the back of its throat.

Acting entirely on instinct, Hiccup pushed himself up on one arm reaching with the other beneath the dragon’s chin to the place where the hardened scale of its jaw met the much softer, malleable plates at it’s throat. With a brush of his fingernails and a small pressure, the Gronkle relaxed entirely and fell at Hiccup’s side. As it fell away, Hiccup caught sight of Astrid on the other side, axe raised and ready for a strike, eyes wide and staring.

As the dragon let out a content huff on the ground, Astrid turned away and started to yell and curse, her victory snatched from directly beneath her nose. Hiccup stood and dusted himself off. With any luck he could write the victory off as Astrid’s.

“Great job Astrid! He almost had me there. If you don’t mind I’ll just be going...”

Before he could make it very far Gobber's hook caught his shirt from behind.

Damn.

The Elder of Berk was standing at the edge of the pit, leaning on her twisted and gnarled staff. Gobber gestured to Astrid with his hook - the Elder shook her wizened, old head.

Double damn.

Hiccup knew full well what was coming next. Gobber's hook shifted slowly, to hover above the diminutive boy's head. With a short and deliberate nod, the Elder condemned him to face off against an enemy that was not truly an enemy. Mutters of disbelief swept the onlookers around the ring’s edge.

Great.

"Are we done?" Hiccup felt a little of his annoyance color his tone. Astrid turned to him, breathing heavily as her nostrils flared and her fists clenched.

"What, exactly, is it that is SO important that it would overshadow your victory over me?!" Astrid’s singed hair framed her face, and her widening eyes offered her a slightly deranged look as she brandished her ax.

"My victory over you? It's not exactly by my choice that I'm here, Astrid. If it were up to me, YOU would be fighting a dragon tomorrow!" With that, Hiccup turned and strode from the ring, ignoring the hanging jaws of the Vikings behind him.

 

XXX

He was almost back; the lip where the ground fell away into the cove was visible through the trees, and Hiccup swiftly pushed aside the branches of thick undergrowth that covered the crevice that descended into the crater. Just as he was about to leap down to the first ledge, there was an audible snapping sound behind him; a dried branch breaking beneath someone’s foot.

Hiccup whipped around, catching the smallest glimpse of blond hair disappearing behind a large tree. "Astrid what are you doing?”

The teenage Viking stepped from behind a large tree. She looked angry, unsurprisingly. "I want to know what you do out here! You're always sneaking off into the forest. Why?" She crossed her arms now and set her jaw, intent on an answer.

Hiccup thanked the gods that he had stopped by his house to pick up his sketchbook. With a snort of aggravation he brandished the small journal and charcoal stylus. "You of course wouldn't know, but I happen to be an artist by hobby. Now please leave me in peace!"

He watched as Astrid’s face morphed from determined anger into off balanced confusion. She had certainly not been expecting a confident, sensible answer. After a brief silence Astrid gave a snort of disgust and turned to sprint off back toward the village. Hiccup sighed, turned, and descended into the cove.


	3. Freedom of Sky

Hiccup

As he leapt down each drop from boulder to boulder, Hiccup tried to reconcile his shock. Not only had Astrid followed him, but he had actually reacted with anger! He’d never had the guts or the will to respond to anyone like that in living memory, preferring to make light of all situations and reply with varying degrees of sarcasm. That was how he dealt with the Vikings, but that… that had been an actual confrontation. He replayed the memory of the encounter in his head as he landed on the spongy moss that covered floor of the cove.

The sun was just passing its zenith, its light sparkling off of the lake's surface. Toothless was out of sight, much to Hiccup's relief. If Astrid had seen him... gods, he didn't even want to think about it. Even as that unpleasant thought had crossed his mind, he was struck from behind by something big. He ended up with his face pressed into the moss and his lungs slightly compressed under the weight of one of Toothless' large forepaws.

"Mmph!" Hiccup tried to speak through his mouthful of moss. "’Oothless! …Et …Off!"

The dragon responded with an amiable rumble and removed himself from his rider's small body. Hiccup got to his feet still feeling slightly dazed and spitting out earth as he went, but as soon as he was standing he was nearly bowled over again as Toothless thrust his head against different points on his body, sniffing thoroughly.

"What's wrong Bud? Do I smell weird?" The glance that the dragon gave him clearly questioned Hiccup about the happenings leading up to his return. The human promptly launched into a narrative of his less-than-satisfactory day while his hand absently stroked lightly along Toothless' shoulder, calming him.

Toothless seemed a bit overly-concerned as of late. Whenever Hiccup returned to him, he always made an inspection with his nose, prodding and sniffing, crooning every time he found a bruise or scrape, though this behavior didn't much concern the boy - rather, it felt nice to know that his friend cared so much for his well being. When Hiccup reached the part of his story that concerned Astrid, Toothless let out a rumble that was almost akin to a growl.

"Whoa there, Bud. Let's not go antagonizing the village by devouring annoying girls." As he formed that sentence, Hiccup realized that Astrid had become just that to him; an annoyance. No longer did he fawn or stare at her, but instead tried to put as much distance between himself and her as possible.

He actually found her truly distasteful, which brought him back to what he originally had been thinking about; since when did he, Hiccup, the Talking Fishbone, have the spine to stand up to, and even yell at, Astrid Hofferson? The very idea seemed absurd, yet he had done it. The anger he had felt at the time had boiled to the surface quickly, then disappeared just as fast.

Then there were his problems for the morrow, when he would have to face off against a Monstrous Nightmare. That was going to be just great. The Vikings wanted him to kill a dragon - he could not kill a dragon. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

During his musings, Hiccup's hand had involuntarily begun to scratch Toothless' thick scaly neck. The surface was smooth, yet ridged where one scale ended and another began. The Night Fury was leaning into the contact, letting out long drawn out purrs of content.

"C’mon Bud, let's ride." Toothless ceased his nuzzling immediately and leapt to his feet, letting out a jubilant screech and bounded for the bush where the flying gear lay hidden. Hiccup was hard pressed to keep up with him, but he managed to retrieve the gear from beneath the bush, strap it to Toothless' back and mount up before the dragon had begun to dance with impatience.

Hiccup had barely managed to secure his safety line before his powerful friend leapt almost vertically, pumping his wings to achieve height while his tongue lolled out of his maw. Looking over his shoulder, the rider watched as the cove began to shrink away beneath him, and the air rushing past his head deafened him.

It was perfect weather for flying. The breezes at higher altitudes were strong enough to make things challenging but not cold enough to cause Hiccup discomfort. The endless blue of the sky continued on to all sides, stretching out to the horizon across the ocean. They passed flocks of birds listened to their terrified screeches as they passed. Hiccup drew a deep breath in, letting the open freedom of the sky fill his entire body.

Toothless tapped on Hiccup's hand with his ear, and gestured with his head to the side. Further out to their right, a great stone arch rose from the ocean floor. Hiccup obeyed his dragon, flicking his heel to open the tailfin wider, and leaned to the side as Toothless began a slow, banking turn.

Hiccup glanced behind him for a look at the tail fin. It seemed to be secure, and responded smoothly to his movements with the stirrup, but the view beyond the tail distracted the boy. They were up so high, he could see mile after mile of Berk's forest, dotted here and there by clearings and bodies of water.

The view was so amazing that Hiccup did not notice that in their course correction to fly near the stone arch, they had entered into the forest of columns and archways that dotted the shallows near Berk’s cliffs. Toothless gave a warning snarl, but though he caught his human’s attention, the boy was not fast enough to adjust the tail for a bank away from an oncoming column. They collided with it, and Toothless gave a growl of pain and distress.

"Sorry!" Toothless merely gave another cry as a second stone column came hurtling at them. Hiccup flicked his heel again to avoid the obstacle, but they were not quick enough to evade it. “That was my fault...” was all the boy had to offer. As they peeled away from the column, Toothless whipped his ear backward smacking Hiccup in the face. “I know! I know I’m sorry!”

This exchange of frustrations was quickly forgotten however as Hiccup made another adjustment and leaned back to encourage Toothless to climb. The dragon did so with a cry of joy, rocketing upwards with each thrust of his wings.

Toothless let out a sharp roar. Hiccup responded with his own exclamation, feeling the wind rushing by at speeds no human had ever traveled. He glanced down, grinning ear to ear at the sight of the ocean shrinking ever smaller. As his fist pumped in victory, he felt himself tumbling into empty space, and the ocean quickly began to look much larger.

 

XXX

Toothless

Hiccup was getting better; he had changed the fin to the perfect width to allow for the role. But in the split second they were upside down, Toothless felt a sudden release of tension in the saddle. Looking above him he saw Hiccup plummeting toward earth, a puzzled look on his face. The sight terrified Toothless. His human. His Hiccup, spiraling toward the ocean. The boy was not sturdy enough to survive such a fall!

Toothless angled his wings and dove straight downward. The boy still had that puzzled look on his face. Of course he wasn't thinking about his impending demise. He was wondering why his line had snapped. Toothless had to stop him. The thought of Hiccup’s death made his eyes squint and all four shoulders tense.

As the slight, skinny figure of his human came closer and closer, Toothless began to open his wings just a tiny bit of a minute degree. The resistance it offered immediately began to slow him. Just a little closer, just a little more… There! With his teeth retracted the dragon caught hold of his rider's leg. Hiccup's puzzled expression seemed to clear, and he reached around Toothless' head for the strap of his saddle.

XXX

Hiccup

How disorienting. One moment he had been trying to figure out why his line had snapped, and the next his leg was engulfed in a soft squishy dampness. Toothless had caught hold of him. Hiccup remembered in that moment that they were extremely high in the air. He reached around Toothless' head and grabbed the strap of the saddle, and with all his strength, pulled himself around and back into riding position.

The line was useless now but Hiccup had just been surprised by the flip before. He would not fall so long as he was paying attention. Then he realized that the tailfin was in the wrong position for Toothless to climb, and the ocean was coming up fast! He immediately adjusted and the pair began to pull out of the dive. Hiccup could feel the wind tearing at his grip on Toothless but he managed to hold on.

Unfortunately they were now flying with great speed straight for the tangled mess of rock that made up a large portion of the coast on this side of Berk. And of course, the spires and crags were suffused with mist and fog.

Things seemed to slow down for Hiccup. He flicked his heel and they dodged an oncoming stone. With another flick they drifted to the right and over another. With a third flick, they flipped to squeeze through an opening barely big enough for the two of them. Hiccup could feel his heartbeat pulsing through his veins. And there was something peculiar that he had noticed the second he had seen the obstacles before him. He could feel Toothless' heart pulsing beneath him. And as they had neared the stones, his heartbeat had slowed, and matched with the dragon's. He could no longer distinguish between his heartbeat and Toothless'.

And with their triumph over the puzzle of flight, Hiccup and Toothless let out a joyful cry in perfect synchronicity.

 

XXX

Toothless

Flight. For more than forty winters he had roamed the skies, a master of all life, and death. Yet he had taken flight for granted. The sky was his home. He could always return there and let his cares fall away to earth. And yet, he had not realized how very much he loved the act of flight. And now, he shared his joy with another. The small human on his back felt as he did about the sky, he was certain of it. He had no idea how, but he could feel Hiccup's joy radiate through him like the heat of the sun. Now he was holding a mass of fish in his claws, and Hiccup was piloting them toward a large outcropping of rock on the cliffs, where they could feast and celebrate.

How very strange it was. A mere matter of days before, and he would have been happy to devour the small boy. Now the very thought of harm coming to him sent a stone dropping into his stomach. It was a strange sensation. A sense of protectiveness that he had not felt since… he stiffened. His human, observant as he was, noticed immediately.

"What is it bud? What's wrong?" Nothing was wrong of course. But that thought had made Toothless freeze. He himself personally had never thought this way about another living creature, but in his mother’s memory, he’d seen his kind cavorting and jubilant in the skies above the snow. Feelings of possessiveness. Protectiveness.

And now, he felt exactly the same way about Hiccup. HIS Hiccup. That's how he thought of the boy. This would require some consideration. Toothless touched down on the rock outcropping, just as the sun touched the horizon.


	4. Something New

Astrid

An artist. That was one she hadn't heard before. And not just an artist, but one that suddenly seemed to have grown a spine. When was it that Hiccup had become so… resilient. He had demanded, and his voice had been just that, demanding, that she go away, and leave him in peace. She was used to being revered and respected by everyone her own age. Even the adults gave her more heed than any of the other teenagers. 

She knew of course that she was vain to think it, but she was better than the other teenagers, and even a few adults besides. She put down the knife she had been using to skin the sheep that would be a meal for her and her parents. She called to her mother that the somewhat messy job was done and headed into the house to wash up.

As she rinsed the blood from her hands, she tried to stop thinking about Hiccup. Why was she so very concerned with his behavior? Of course that was a stupid question. She knew why. He was besting her in any fight with any dragon they happened to be facing together. It was like he had power over the reptiles. Not only that, but in the time it took that him to discover these abilities, he had become surly, and he now responded to belittlement with anger, like he never had before. And Astrid knew she was concerned about that. It was radically different from the normal, and anything that was abnormal without a good reason, was dangerous. She finished cleaning her hands and stepped through her door, intending on some dinner.

Hiccup's secret, and she was sure that he had one, would be revealed with time. And perhaps a little help from her observations. She wasn't going to let the little shrimp out of her sight when she saw him next.

 

XXX

Hiccup

Hiccup looked upwards and started. Night was falling, and he wasn't home. His father might be back. Gods it would be awful trying to explain being out in the woods at this hour to him. Sighing heavily Hiccup rose to his feet. Toothless raised his head and objected. The dragon had been feeling full, warm, and happy. And now Hiccup's sudden absence from his side had ruined it.

"I'm sorry bud, but if my dad’s back and I don't get home soon, he just might tie me to a rafter or something." Toothless lifted himself from the ground, and stepped quickly to Hiccup's side, tilting one side of his back towards the ground, urging Hiccup to get on. "I can walk back by myself Toothless." Toothless snorted and looked at the very dark forest, and then back to Hiccup giving a questioning croon. His meaning was obvious to Hiccup;  _ You think I'm going to let YOU go in THERE by yourself?  _ Hiccup sighed again and leaped onto the dragon's back and positioned himself in the saddle. "When did you get so pushy you paternal reptile?" Toothless let out an amused hiss and leapt into the darkening sky.

 

XXX

Toothless

Sometimes his Hiccup was SO ridiculous. He could see how much the boy didn't want to return to the village. Every time he spoke of it a minute flare of pain appeared in the depths of those forest green eyes. Happiness had been a cloud surrounding him while Hiccup had lain at his side. Hiccup was always cold to his touch, he didn't like that. Every time Hiccup sat with him, he leaned and pressed against the small boy, in an effort to transmit every bit of his extra heat to his rider. Now he was in a foul mood. The wretched boy had thought he would be walking home by himself. HA!

As usual it felt infinitely better to be airborne. There were no vicious lupine creatures here intent on his Hiccup's death. Here they were free to let the peace of the night envelop them. They were invisible, invincible! Within a few minutes however, the lights of the village came into view, and Hiccup's shifting of his tail forced him to dive. He was careful to keep the small flaps that ran along the sides of his body closed, to prevent them from producing their usual high pitched scream, as they vibrated in the rushing wind. Their landing was even more graceful than last time. Hiccup managed to actually stay on his back! They were getting better no doubt about it.

Hiccup leaped from the saddle and turned to him. He shoved his nose right up against his human's torso, inhaling deeply and letting out a mournful croon. He couldn't stay with his Hiccup. He knew that.

"It's ok Toothless." Now the boy was trying to console him. "Before you know it, it will be morning, and I will be out there with you. I want you to take good care of yourself while I'm gone." He snorted. Only his Hiccup would be so compassionate that he was more concerned with the safety of a dragon, weighing far more than twice his own weight, that could breath fire. "Hey I don't care what you say. I will be concerned about you so long as we live on an island of dragon slaying Vikings." And then he was gripped by an odd urge. An odd, and completely overpowering urge. 

Without a second thought, he brought his head up until it was level with Hiccup's, and gave a tiny, light, and altogether loving, lick, to the sensitive spot just between his jaw, and his neck. He felt the boy shiver slightly, then Hiccup turned and strode toward his house sending a soft "Good night." winging back to the dragon. He stood there for a long while, at the edge of the forest. Then he turned and melded into the shadows of the night.

 

XXX

Hiccup

Elated. There was no other way to describe the sensation. He didn't know why but he felt as if he were still flying. The spot under his chin tingled, where it had come into such brief contact with Toothless' tongue. That had felt amazing. The house had no light of fire from the first floor, so he was almost sure that his father still was not home. Upon stepping into the house, he wished for a moment that someone was here. The place was so cold and dark. He found himself yearning for that spot, in the cove. A bed of ash, and a Night Fury enveloping him, in warmth and love. He touched the still tingling spot underneath his jaw. 

Toothless had licked him often enough before, but this time, it had seemed far more… intimate. It had had feeling behind it. And he found himself craving that intimacy. He realized as he climbed the stairs to his room, that he would do anything to have Toothless here by his side. Right this instant. How very strange.

 

Hiccup shook his head. He was probably just a bit confused by the lateness of the hour. He'd try to sort out his feelings in the morning. And with that final thought, the young human collapsed into his bed.


	5. Savage Violence

Hiccup

_The cove was full of light. All around him the rays of the sun fell lightly on the ground, warming it. They danced on the water of the lake, and glistened as they touched the scales of his companion's body. He sat with his back against Toothless, soaking up the warmth of both the dragon's body and the sun above. All was peaceful, and he was happy. Toothless was thrumming beneath him, and he knew that his friend was happy. All was peaceful._

_Then Toothless lifted his head from his paws, and brought it around close to his. He reached up with his hand, and ran it along the soft scales of his friend's eye ridge. Toothless' thrumming intensified, and deepened. And then the dragon brought his head down and nuzzled the skin between his neck and shoulder. The feeling that leapt down his spine was, strange. It jumped and danced and touched each of his limbs on it's way down. He shivered. Then Toothless purred, and licked that same exact spot beneath his chin, that spot between his jaw, and his neck._

_Warmth flooded his body and he let out an involuntary sigh. A different sort of feeling accompanied that touch. He had actually felt the affection in his friends caress, and he loved it. He found himself wanting more, craving it like air. This was so very strange. He was about to turn to Toothless and ask him what he had meant by that touch, when there was a crash, and a yell in the distance._

Then he sat bolt upright, and found himself not in the cove, and not against Toothless, but at home, in his bed.

More shouts and yells could be heard in the distance. He had not removed his clothes for sleep so he bolted straight for the door. He took the stair three at a time to the ground floor while more crashing and a scream sounded from outside. It didn't take him more than three seconds to hit the front door. He tried to push it open, but found it blocked. The door only opened a few inches before some heavy fallen object halted its progress.

Suddenly the entire room felt close. Far too small. He needed the sky. Ignoring the back door, he leaped back up the stairs four at a time, a feat he had never before succeeded in, and reached the second floor in a matter of seconds. Once back in his room he ran for the window and threw the skins that covered it aside. Without a second's pause he vaulted though the uncovered portal. Bring his hands up he clung to the eave of his roof while his legs dangled in empty space. With a surge of adrenaline, he hauled himself up onto the roof.

From here the entire village was in plain view. Tongues of flame licked at each structure and tiny figures ran here and there, locked in combat or desperately trying to put the fires out. In the smoky skies, dragons wheeled and dove, bathing the earth beneath them in fire.

Unlike any other raid he’d ever experienced, the dragons didn’t seem at all concerned with stealing the sheep or yaks. They were entirely focussed the destruction of the structures and inhabitants. It was the biggest raid that he had ever witnessed.

Then, he felt a shudder pass through the roof beneath his feet. Something large had landed behind him. The large reptile then stepped to his side. He turned and smiled.

 

XXX

Astrid

It was as if the hells had all broken apart and unleashed every demon in existence down upon Berk. She herself had left the other teenagers to fire control while she joined in the actual battle. Though it didn't help that about half of the village had gone out on that nest hunt. For every dragon she slew, there were at least five more to take it's place. All was chaos. She had stopped thinking about things like where she was and if she had injuries. Those could be dealt with after every single abomination in the sky was dead.

Eventually every weapon she owned had been rendered useless by intense combat. This necessitated figuring out where she was so that she could get to the smithy stall. Upon reaching it she was surprised to find Gobber within. In a battle against these numbers he would usually be out in the field. But then she saw why Gobber was working instead of fighting, he lacked an assistant to take over. Hiccup was nowhere inside the forge.

"Gobber! Where's Hiccup! Why isn't he here?"

"Haven' the foggiest! Haven' seen 'im since yesterday!" Gobber shouted over the clamor. Astrid left her ax and spear with the large man to be mended. By the looks of it they wouldn't be done for a while. Gobber's workflow had piled high without Hiccup to help him, and all of the reserve weapons were gone, presumably in active use. She turned and, picking up a piece of fallen timber from some house, dived back into the fray.

She had no idea how much time passed between when she left the forge, and when she was next brought to terms with her surroundings. She suddenly found herself helping the teenagers with fire control, since her makeshift stake had proved an ineffective weapon. Eventually she realized that she was extinguishing the house right beside Hiccup's. She stared for a brief moment at the chief's house. Where was the little shrimp? He was too dangerous in a raid. The last time he had gotten out he'd completely destroyed the pathways leading down to the docks, as well as a good portion of the docks themselves.

She froze. She'd been gazing at the chief's house, but she had suddenly noticed something on the roof. There standing at the edge was Hiccup. He was gazing all around him, all over the village. He didn't even look concerned. As a matter of fact his face barely registered interest! He looked as though he were enjoying a pleasant ocean view. Then something loomed behind him.

She stared in horror as a large shadow detached itself from the sky that was it's backdrop and stood beside Hiccup. It was a dragon she had never seen before. And as she watched, Hiccup turned to look at it, and smiled!

He smiled!

His face lit up like he’d just been told the best news! He looked elated! Then, as if following some unseen signal, both Hiccup, and the demon beside him turned, and walked out of sight, disappearing with a flash of a black tail. Astrid ran between the houses, and caught a glimpse of something disappearing, into the forest.

She could feel her mouth hanging open. It was impossible. Insane! Hiccup had stood there, with an uncaring face as his fellow Vikings had fallen in battle. Then the enemy had appeared right beside him, and he didn't even have the decency to look frightened, or even wary! He had smiled and gone with it away, into darkness.

He was a traitor.

For the rest of the morning she was relentless. Every dragon that crossed her path either met its end, or was sent screeching into the night worse off for having met her. Slowly, as the horizon brightened with coming of the sun, she found her path blocked by fewer and fewer dragons. The fires that many were putting out, did not relight and the smoldering remains of buildings began to rest quietly. By the sun’s rising, there were no living dragons left.

The results of the night’s devastation were terrifying to behold. Bodies of dragons lay everywhere, as did the corpses of villagers. Astrid joined a group that was helping to carry the bodies back to their families. The Elder would certainly be busy with burial rites.

The other teens were all busy taking stock of what was left afterward. The food supplies had been relatively untouched by the chaos, making the dragons’ goal in attacking entirely unclear. Gobber along with Spitelout took charge of the various groups, splitting labor as evenly as possible. The Village of Berk was well used to rebuilding itself.

As Astrid labored the sun climbed higher in the sky, until a few hours before midday, when her group was assigned a break for water and rest. While others sat down and nursed their aches and wounds, Astrid stayed standing, pacing back and forth.

What had she seen last night? It had seemed as though Hiccup stood above the village, cold and indifferent to their fate, and a dragon, entirely black had whisked him away. Hiccup had looked at that dragon with recognition. There was no surprise in his face that she could see. Then again, it _had_ been very dark and smoky. What she’d seen could have been a mirage caused by the stress of the moment and her own troubled thoughts.

There was only one way to know for sure. She turned toward the Chief’s house, which she now realized was the only single building in the village that had been entirely untouched by flames and battle. Slipping behind a pile of timber to ensure that her group could not see her, she slipped off toward the house, and hopefully, some answers.

  


XXX

Toothless

Toothless had awakened with a start from his resting place within the forest. The screeches of other dragons and the glow of fire were evident from the direction of the village. Pieces of earth and mulch rose in a shower behind him as he bounded toward Berk at full speed, dodging trees and occasionally flapping his wings when he had the room, giving a few of his bounds extra distance.

He identified his Hiccup's dwelling by scent easily positioned as it was at the village’s very edge. Above him dragons of all kinds dived and swooped all over the skies, setting dwellings afire wherever they perceived a threat.

Toothless shook his head. He now saw how very unnecessary it was. He could care less what the Queen thought. He wished he could tell Hiccup about her, but that conversation was just too complex for looks and nudges. He was just trying to figure out the best way to enter the dwelling when something small came flying out of an opening on the second floor. It grabbed hold of the roof's eave and leaped onto the roof.

As it stood stationary the figure was silhouetted against the orange tinted smoke behind it. That settled things; it was his Hiccup standing up there on the roof looking down over the carnage. With one powerful jump he was standing on the roof as well. And with a few strides he was at his rider's side. For a moment they both stood there, observing the chaos, before Hiccup turned and smiled at him. That smile erased all thoughts of worry and consideration for the current situation.

They both turned at the same time to walk to the back of the roof. His boy climbed onto his back and he leapt. With one bound he was at the tree line, and with another they had left the village behind, racing through the shadows. Soon the sight of the fires was just a memory reflected in an orange glow radiating from the smoke above the village.

That day was one of the happiest he could remember. And he could tell that his Hiccup was happy as well, which only made his joy sweeter. They napped in the cove until the sun rose and then flew with the wind, moving in perfect harmony, as they twisted, spun, dived, and climbed through the air. They were masters of the sky and they basked in the glow of the sun and the cool caress of the breeze. They fished when hungry and finally stopped to once again watch the time pass by in the clouds above.

Toothless lifted his head from where it had rested on his paws to gaze at his boy. He was entirely devoted to a human. It was clear as the day above. He knew that for reasons beyond his reckoning, he had chosen this small human boy, as his life partner, his mate. The thought made a thrum resonate through his body. He nuzzled his Hiccup's skin, right between the shoulder and neck, where he knew was most sensitive.

A shiver passed through Hiccup’s body and the human looked up with surprise in his face. And Toothless was not able to deduce what the boy was thinking. He seemed a bit confused, but he reached up with his hand to brush lightly along the smooth scales of Toothless’ eye ridge.

A feeling of utter contentment swept over him, and he licked that same spot beneath his rider's chin. Hiccup's eyes widened and the corner of his mouth began to twitch upwards.

Then the moment was broken by the snap of a twig, and the sudden appearance of that annoying female Viking. She leaped from behind a stone yelling;

"Hiccup! Move!" Then she threw her ax with all the force she could muster straight towards the dragon's neck. Hiccup gave a strangled cry and leapt to his feet.

There was a squelching crunch.

A grunt.

And a thud.


	6. Shattered Walls

Astrid

It only took a few moments of searching when she reached the Chief’s house. In a patch of soft earth was the imprint of a large paw unlike anything she had previously seen on any of the dragons she was used to. That black dragon she thought she had seen last night, she had never seen that before either. A memory flashed unbidden before her eyes. She recalled Hiccup's words, so long ago they seemed, after the last raid had taken place;

" _ Ok but I hit a Night Fury."  _

Could it really be possible? Had Hiccup seriously managed to bring down the elusive and destructive offspring of lightning and Death? No one had believed him. Of course they hadn’t, who would? But, around that exact same time, Hiccup had started disappearing during the day. And! She gasped. He had also started to dramatically improve in his performance during dragon training a little after that! What was he doing? Studying it?

No. She had seen it last night standing free and easy beside him. She saw no human tracks beside those of the dragon. Perhaps it was the other way around! Perhaps the dragon had captured HIM! Perhaps it had some form of mind control or something! There were a couple of species in the dragon manual which had command of limited hypnosis, but something of this magnitude? To lord over a human mind so completely, that it obeyed and followed at a single glance? She shuddered. That would require the demons to possess far more intelligence than she was comfortable with considering.

Just standing here speculating was not going to get her anywhere. She eyed the tracks. They seemed to be heading in a generally westward direction, toward Raven Point. Exactly where Hiccup had claimed the Night Fury had gone down! She began a brisk westwardly jog through the forest. The trail was easy enough to follow. The beast had not made any attempts to conceal itself. As she ran she noted scraped bark on tree trunks, trampled bushes and more prints in the soft earth.

However, as the trees began to close in and she was forced to weave her way among them, the signs became more scattered and difficult to follow. The beast had slowed and there was far less indication of its passing, in fact, it weren't for the odd patch of flattened grass, she would have thought she lost it. Then she noticed something. She knew this part of the forest. Just a few days previous she had been here, letting off some steam by using a tree as target practice for her ax. She could see the tree from where she was standing in fact. 

Astrid slowed her jog, feeling the breeze play across her sweating brow. She slowed her breathing too, allowing it to become deep and even, rejuvenating her as she stepped over toward the tree that had so Stoically born her wrath. The vertical wounds in the bark were deep and sap had congealed in the floor of each chasm. This was the destruction that her ax would wreak on the dragons that threatened her home. She noticed a few strikes that had been farther off the center than they should be. She’d even missed once.

Her heartbeat had slowed now and her chest rose and fell steadily without effort. Anger was not strength. Anger distorts your view, and that means your aim. When she found the black dragon, she would need to think calmly and clearly.

She turned to continue on her search, but as she did the scene before her suddenly flashed as she was reminded of the day she’d been throwing her ax.  _ Hiccup had stood there, between those trees before her and stared as she stopped herself from throwing her blade into his face. He held a bundle of leather tied together with straps. Silently as she stared at him, he took one step away, then another and finally he took off into the forest.  _

Whatever was going on with Hiccup and that dragon, it was happening very nearby. Astrid walked forward now, slowly and carefully, ensuring that wherever the reptile was, it wouldn’t be alerted of her presence before she could see it. She also freed her ax from its bindings, hefting it slightly as she went.

After only a minute, she was met with an enormous pit. The ground before her became rock and quickly fell away into a sheer cliff.

As she peeked over the edge, her first thought was how very beautiful the place was. The walls were all made up of smooth gray stone, the floor was covered in spongy looking moss and grasses with large boulders occasionally interrupting the tones of green, and covering most of it was a large deep blue lake that played the light of the sun so that it sparkled like a rare jewel. She was just starting to smile, when the beautiful scene was interrupted. Near the edge of the lake, a dark mass of scale was evident.

At this distance, the shape and size of the dragon was entirely unclear. What she could see was the pale glow of Hiccup’s sickly skin against the black of the scale. He was reclining against the mass, facing out across the sparkling water. Astrid knelt beside a large trunk, ready to dive behind it if anything moved. She stayed for a few minutes, noting each individual feature of the cove. Each moss covered boulder that presented the opportunity for concealment, and the places where the ground sloped and dipped.

She did not sacrifice stealth for speed. When she finally did move, she kept one eye on the dragon below at all times while the other along with her hands sought the path that would take her around the rim of the cove toward the fissure in the eastern side that was clearly the easiest access for anything without wings. All the while, neither Hiccup, nor the dragon moved. Perhaps Hiccup was unconscious. He hadn’t seemed to move for the entire time she’d been watching.

When she finally stepped foot on the mossy floor, she got her first sign that the dragon was awake. There was a scraping and a groaning. Astrid dove to her left and dropped down behind one of the boulders she’d noted from above. Immediately she peaked around the rock’s opposite side.

The mass of black scale had gained some definition. A single wing reached up toward the sky, while a tail was lashing on the right side. This quite clearly revealed on the left, a triangular head on a relatively short neck. This dragon would not have reach with its teeth. She’d need to watch especially for a more powerful shot, as well as those long wings and tail. After a small time of groaning and flexing, the beast rolled slightly and brought its head back to rest its snout in the crook of Hiccup’s shoulder. Its tail draped itself across the boy’s lap.

And to Astrid’s disgust, she was able to make out Hiccup’s face now. His eyes were closed and a dreamy smile was smeared across his lips. As the dragon pushed into him, Hiccup’s head turned giving the dragon better access to his shoulder and throat.

Astrid felt her stomach roll and she had to stop to make sure she wouldn’t vomit or belch. Shivers ran through her body as she thought of having a Dragon’s teeth that close to her head. As the shivers stilled, she began to make her way to her next piece of cover, following the course she’d planned from the rim, around the lake shore and toward the demon.

Neither the boy, nor the dragon moved in the thirty minutes that she took to tread carefully from boulder to boulder, always keeping cover between herself and the dragon, lest it open its eyes. She was not entirely sure where its eyes might be, which encouraged her to take her time. When she finally came within throwing distance, she stopped again.

Now that she was closer she could see even more of the dragon’s profile. The head was vaguely spade shaped, the back of which separated into four points, two of which had to be ears. And she could see that the legs, while a bit short and stubby, were packed with strength. The wings were folded behind it but she remembered the dragon’s stretch. They would reach a frightful span when unfolded. The tail was long and sinuous. It also held strength. All in all, this dragon would be a frighteningly formidable adversary in close combat. 

A ranged strike was her best chance. The beast was lying on its side like a cat, with its tail across Hiccup’s lap, and it’s head now resting on the ground near his thigh. From where she stood, she had an open avenue directly to the side of its neck. She knew that she could hit that target. So long as Hiccup stayed still he would not come to harm and she could inflict a mortal wound. Once the ax hit, she’d have to charge in and grab Hiccup so that he wasn’t crushed by the beast in its death throes.

Her course set and ready, she stood and stepped around her rock. With her feet planted, stance wide and lined up perfectly with her target, she lifted her ax and pulled it back over her shoulder. To her surprise at that exact moment, Hiccup’s eyes flickered open. He caught sight of her at once, but had the good sense not to  cry out or move too much. His eyes were foggy with sleep and he stared at her as if she was a strange creature from a dream. Astrid took a moment to mouth, ‘stay still’ before she brought the ax forward hard, releasing it to fly spinning toward the dragon.

Then the unthinkable happened. 

Hiccup’s eyes cleared the moment the ax left Astrid’s grip. He leaped to his feet and moved, not away from the dragon and the airborne ax, but in between the two spreading his arms wide. In that brief, tiny millisecond of time, as the boy stood with his arms outstretched, his eyes locked with hers and she saw hatred in them. Hiccup looked like he would happily rip her throat out and crush it in his fist. 

Then the ax buried itself in flesh, not scale as it was intended, but into the inside of Hiccup's right shoulder, just where his arm met his body. She heard the sickening crunch of bone splintering as the ax forced its way through living tissue. Behind Hiccup, the dragon's eyes snapped open. Two pale green lanterns that shown from the dark silhouette of its head, gashed by vertical pupils.  It let out a horrible, howling screech that sounded like pain. Hiccup grunted and was carried backward with the momentum of the weapon, landing on his back with the handle of the ax protruding into the air from his limp, immobile body.

 

XXX

Hiccup

There was no choice. He had simply acted. He would not allow Toothless to come to harm. His body responded automatically. Using itself as a shield to protect his friend. He didn't feel the bite of steel in his shoulder, only the heavy impact that drove him backwards. And as he fell, he felt pressure begin to build inside his skull. It was as if every headache he had ever endured were rushing into his head at once. 

The speed with which the pain built was incredible, and he knew that he was still falling toward the ground. It felt as if his skull were about to crack open and spill his brain across the moss. And as he hit the ground full on his back, he felt the pressure disappear, as if it had been released all at once. And with the pressure's disappearance, came the sound of a voice. One that he had never heard before, yet still sounded as familiar to him as the back of his hand. It was rich and tenor, with an undertone that could almost have been a growl. And it was shouting.

_ "Hiccup! Hiccup! Dammit you bitch! I'll kill you! I'll kill you where you stand!"  _

Wait! Hadn't he just taken an ax to keep someone from harm? Who was shouting? Couldn't they just incapacitate Astrid or something? And with that thought, the shouting and cursing ceased. There was silence. 

And then...

"Hiccup? Is that you?" Hiccup couldn't find the strength to speak, or even open his eyes. He thought; _ Of course it's me. Who else would it be? _ And why was that voice talking to him when he wasn't talking to it? Then his strength gave out, and he fell into darkness.

 

XXX

Toothless

True horror filled his heart as he watched Hiccup begin to fall backwards. He screamed his rage to the sky as the small boy fell through the air, and finally came to rest with a muffled thud on the mossy ground. Toothless raised his eyes from the scarlet stained form of his rider to stare at the human hatchling, which was standing wide mouthed, seemingly frozen in shock at what she’d done.

She had harmed what was precious. And now she would die. He opened his mouth and let his slits open with it. The whistle of his charging shot reverberated around the cove. The walls of the cove would be stained by what was left of her.

Then Hiccup's voice had interrupted him. 

_ “Must you kill her?" _

Toothless stared down at Hiccup. He still lay with blood pooling around his shoulder, eyes closed. He seemed to be unconscious. Sweet and gentle Hiccup. Unable to destroy even those that were intent on his destruction. 

Toothless obeyed the boy’s wish. Stepping over Hiccup's body he whipped his hind quarters around toward the small human female, bringing his tail to bear in a devastating blow to the side of her head that sent her spinning, tumbling, landing in a jumbled heap on the loam. With that he returned to Hiccup's side. The girl didn't have a chance of regaining consciousness for a long while. 

Hiccup lay sprawled where he had fallen, the ax still protruding from his arm. With as much delicacy as he could muster, he nudged the ax shaft, until it finally abdicated the wound with a sickening squelch. He nosed at it until it was a far distance from his rider, and then set it to his flame.

He immediately returned to Hiccup's side and began licking the gash in his shoulder. It was deep. Very deep. He had no idea how a human’s wound was to be treated. When his kind was injured, the wound was bathed in fire, but his Hiccup’s flesh would be destroyed by such cleansing. 

Desperately he continued to lick the blood away. Even if he could not cleanse the harm using the flame of his belly, he would remove any trace of the taste of human metal and vile death. The focus he levied to the task made the tip of his tongue feel hot and prickly. Hiccup’s blood coated his tongue and the taste sent lightning shocks down his spine, driving his desperation.

Then to his astonishment, he felt the skin beneath his tongue, twitch. He brought his head away from the wound and looked on in amazement. The surface of his Hiccup's flesh was rippling ever so slightly, like the surface of the lake. His sensitive ears picked out small grindings and crunches within his boy's shoulder. Then the blood that had previously been welling out of the wound, began to congeal and turn black. 

Eventually the entire gash was covered with a dark reflective crust. That was when he realized something even stranger. Behind his riders closed eyelids, he could see a green glow. As if his eyes had become luminescent. Eventually the shoulder stopped twitching. And a few minutes after that the glow behind the boy's eyelids faded. This, he knew, was not normal human behavior. He didn't want to wake Hiccup. But the wound smelled clean now, and it seemed as if he were merely sleeping.

With a snort, he curled himself around Hiccup's body, and raised a wing over him to protect him from the sun. He then set his gaze to the body of the Viking girl. Just in case, she regained consciousness.


	7. Beginnings

Hiccup

_ It was confusing. He didn't really sleep. Sleep was more peaceful than this. But he was still, and he rested. Where was he again? What had happened? Oh yes he had smashed Astrid's head with his tail when she had tried to hurt Toothless. That had been fun. She wouldn't be happy when she woke up. Wait. He didn't have a tail. Did he? Maybe he did. No humans didn't have tails. But he did. Or did he? Was he a human? No he was a dragon. Or maybe he was a human. Toothless! He was a human. No wait. Toothless was a dragon. But then he would have to be a human. Yes Toothless was a dragon. Was he a dragon? Was he Toothless? No! He was Hiccup! Yes! Of course! He was a human! And Toothless was a dragon! Toothless had hit Astrid with his tail! But then… If Toothless had hit Astrid, why did he, Hiccup, remember doing it? Was he Toothless? No.  _

Now things were starting to go in circles. Why was it so dark? Maybe he WAS asleep. In that case he needed to wake up! Slowly, very slowly, he started to open his eyes.

His gaze was met with a black scaled surface. Next he would try to raise his hand. Unfortunately, he never got that far. The second his eyes were fully open, his head exploded in agony. Images began to appear before him, before quickly evaporating to be replaced by new ones. It felt as if he had remembered several thousand things that he had forgotten, all at once. 

He was soaring above a land made of ice, blanketed in snow, being nuzzled by a huge dark presence that felt like home. He was falling from a very high place, with his wings spread uselessly at his sides. He was spitting fire at an enormous white furred cat. He was being wrapped in tendrils of leather and he could not move. This last image stayed and he fell down, down, down, screaming as he went. Then he crashed into the trees and carved a furrow of destruction down the side of a hill, pain lanced upwards through his tail and all went dark again.

Then a voice through the darkness.

_ "Hiccup! Hiccup are you alright? Hiccup say something! You're awake I know you are! Answer me dammit!" _

With a Herculean effort he tried to lift his eyelids for a second time. The pain was starting to fade a bit from his head. Unfortunately this only allowed him to become aware of another pain. A burning pain. It felt as if someone was shoving a red hot poker into his shoulder. The heat was awful. Then his eyes finally obeyed his will, and opened. Instead of that dark scaly surface, he was faced with a large scaly face, with eyes of a very light green, and a look of concern so deep that it frightened him. Then he finally managed to unlock his jaw, and mutter a few words.

"Wha… Happen…" He took a deep breath and swallowed. His throat felt like it had been vigorously scrubbed with a sanding file. "Toothless? Are you ok?" The look in his friend's eyes was close to panic. Suddenly a voice reverberated through his confusing slew of memories;

_ "Am I ok! Am I OKAY?! Are you insane?! I just pulled an ax out of your shoulder an hour ago, and you ask me if I'M ok!" _

Great. Now he was hearing voices. This was just great. Maybe he had hit his head on the way down. 

_ "You did actually. I reacted too slowly to catch you. I did deal a pretty good whallop to that bitch over there though." _

As these words popped into his head, Toothless' eyes darted to the side and his mouth contorted slightly into a snarl. He turned his head slightly, and his shoulder gave a particularly painful throb. There, next to a boulder, he could see the crumpled form of a human. 

Ahh. So that was why Astrid hadn't made any progress towards killing Toothless.

_ "The more important question is, are YOU okay?" _

Gods Hiccup hurt. It wasn’t just his shoulder, his entire body hurt. And the pain was fluctuating. Every second the pain seemed to get more intense, and then ebb away. It was like a rhythm, very steady. It felt like a heartbeat. It felt like  _ his _ heartbeat.

With every contraction of his heart, burning pain shot all throughout his body. It seemed as if there was liquid fire, pulsing through his veins. Every beat inflicted new burns, yet now as he struggled to sit up and inspected his hands and arms, he could find no evidence of damage to his flesh. He turned to Toothless, who was staring at him with a strange emotion in his eyes. It looked... happy. No more than that it was exuberant.

"What?"

 

XXX

Toothless

It was one of the most severely disorienting things Toothless had ever experienced. One moment, he had been lying quietly beside Hiccup, waiting for him to awaken from the unnaturally deep sleep that the wound seemed to have induced, the next moment, he had felt a nudge. Not a physical nudge like something pushing at his scales, but a push against his mind. 

It was a touch so gentle, the likes of which he had not experienced in more than thirty winters. He could remember feeling a similar caress against his thoughts when he was only a hatchling. That of course had been his mother. She had touched his mind a month after he was out of the shell. She had shared things with him that would shape his life. The feel of the air beneath his wings, the smell of the wolves that roamed the ice. 

The important things. The things that he needed to survive. She had shown him her love, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Then only a season after his hatching, his mother had been ripped away from him and he’d been forced into the solitary life of his kind seasons early.

When he felt that nudge, that little push against his consciousness, it was almost like feeling his mother again, and he reacted exactly like he used to. He opened his mind wide and let it flow outwards toward the foreign presence. All of his memories, his thoughts and feelings over all of the time that he was away, he would share them all.

He started with one of his most prominent memories, his very first flight over the ice of his homeland. Then he reverted to his youth, being nuzzled by his mother, after that he moved on, forward through his life. His very first free fall from the high cliffs, then his first encounter with an ice cat. He skipped the darkness of his recent experience, repelled away from his memories of his time in  _ her  _ nest, and ended with one of the most important things that had ever happened to him. 

The restraints of Hiccup's invention surrounding him, enveloping him, and then his fall to the earth below. It was then that he finally felt a response from the foreign mind.

But it was nothing like his mother's mind. It was small. Weak. And it was only experiencing one thing. Pain. It offered no thoughts or feelings of its own besides the pain. And the pain stemmed from the memories that he was forcing into it. He withdrew with a start. This was not his mother. But there were no other Shades anywhere near here. Who else could it be. Then he caught a single image. A tiny thread of memory from the foreign mind.

It was a memory of falling, falling straight down from a point of safety, to the cold ocean below. Then, a shadow. Far above was a silhouette of wings. Black as night. It slowly became larger, until it appeared as a Shade. The mighty jaws opened, and the teeth retracted. Then the jaws clamped down on a leg. A human leg.

This could only be a memory from Hiccup. This was impossible. No other creature of the land or sky could commune in this way. Every hatchling tried of course. As soon as they met a creature different from themselves, they would try to connect with any creature they met. The foreign creatures mind could be sensed, but it never responded. It was like conversing with a stone. It was there, and it could be felt and action could be inflicted on it, but it never responded. 

Now he felt a new mind. One that was different from any other Shade he had previously encountered, yet vaguely similar at the same time. It could only be Hiccup. It had his memory.

But then… That was how he had heard Hiccup without him even opening his mouth. Hiccup had thought, and he had heard. Not only that, Hiccup had responded! The boy had heard him speak!

_ "Hiccup! Hiccup are you alright? Hiccup say something! You're awake I know you are! Answer me dammit!" _

He hadn't meant to sound so angry but fear gripped at his throat, forcing his teeth out. He stared down at Hiccup's face, his eyelids were slowly rising. Soon they were completely open. And then the boy demonstrated his seemingly limitless ability for absurdity.

"Wha… Happen… Toothless? Are you ok?"

The wretched child showed no ability whatsoever to care about himself! How dare he! What if the scrawny human had died? Where would that leave HIM? Alone. Alone and left to wander the earth without purpose.

_ "Am I ok! Am I OKAY?! Are you insane?! I just pulled an ax out of your shoulder an hour ago, and you ask me if I'M ok!" _

Hiccup's thoughts spun. The boy obviously didn't believe that it was he, Toothless speaking to him. His thoughts turned to speculations about hitting his head.

_ "You did actually. I was reacted too slowly to catch you. I did deal a pretty good whallop to that bitch over there though." _

As he said it he felt his lips pull back into a snarl and he looked towards the offending pile of disoriented flesh. Then he looked back at Hiccup. 

_ "The more important question is, are YOU ok?"  _

Hiccup was in pain. Constant thrumming pain. To him it felt like he was being burned, with every pulse of his heart. Toothless did not know what it was like to be burned. Dragon scales were completely proof against fire. But now he shared the feeling of burning with his rider. And though he had never known the feeling of burning before, this sensation felt familiar. 

He sensed his own heartbeat, so much slower than Hiccup's. Each pulse of blood through his own body was a warming tingle. This was far too strange. Then Hiccup turned away from Astrid and looked at him.

"What?"

_ "Hiccup. I know you can hear me." _ he kept his thoughts even, even though he was so full of emotion that the tips of his wings were twitching.  _ "You can hear me. You shouldn't be able to, but you can. You don't have any mental endurance, so you couldn't block me if you tried, but I still wish to ask your permission. May I have entry to your mind?" _

Hiccup's eyes widened. And then the boy fell backwards onto the ground, apparently, unconscious. Toothless let out a sigh. This would be difficult. The sun's light was beginning to fade from the sky and the stars were appearing in the east. Well at the very least this was more comfortable. It had been hard to adjust to Hiccup's sense of time. His human was active during the day. He had forced himself to adhere to the new and backwards life. Now he was finally awake at the proper time.

There came a muffled cough from the lump of disheveled flesh that was Astrid. He felt his eyes narrow, and he acted quickly. Gently he lifted his human in his mouth, teeth retracted, and leapt for the other side of the cove. The night was his element. He and Hiccup would seem to have vanished.

The human girl groaned and shifted, then froze. She got to her feet, probably in as quiet a manner as she could manage. All the while she was clutching her head and looking around. She probably expected him to leap from the shadows and devour her. She would probably taste awful. All that clothing and leather. Ugh. It took her about a half hour, but she finally found the crevice in the rock and scrambled back to the forest above. 

He waited until he was certain that she wouldn't be able to see the light, and burned a bed of ash into the ground. He wrapped Hiccup tightly in his legs and wings, and kept watch over the cove, which was now bathed in the silver light of the moon. Hiccup stirred.

He said that he would await Hiccup's permission, but he was just too curious. Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached out towards Hiccup's thoughts. Dreams were spinning through the boys small mind. He watched the dreams twist and leap, appear and disappear. The mind felt so fragile, so very tiny. He made sure that none of his own thoughts would overflow into Hiccup's. 

He had caused Hiccup great pain today. Hiccup was feeling pain even now. It was a tone that overlaid all of the dreams that spun through his mind. Was that his fault too? He hoped not. 

Then all of Hiccup's scattered dreams congealed and became a single image. Hiccup was dreaming of him, Toothless. And the things he felt were incredible. It was an affection so intense, it didn't even deserve the name affection. It was love. There was no better description.

He smiled down at his boy, sleeping curled in his embrace. Sorting out all of these feelings when Hiccup woke up was going to be complicated. Not only that, but as he stared down at Hiccup, his own possessive thoughts intensified. He’d felt possessive before, but now, he felt as if he would never allow the boy to leave his side. Anyone or anything with ill intentions that came near HIS Hiccup, would suffer death.

Or worse.


	8. Back Again

Hiccup

The second waking was a little easier. Hiccup knew that he was Hiccup. He knew that he was human. He knew that Toothless was a dragon, and he knew that he was feeling some extremely strange things about said dragon. 

Unfortunately his knew found clarity of mind did not bring with it an explanation for the pain. It was a very strange feeling. He was being continuously burned from the inside-out. Yet no damage was being done. In fact, as he lay there, eyes closed listening to the heartbeats of both himself and Toothless, he found that he quickly acclimatized. The repetition of the pain's fluctuations in time with his heart, allowed his mind to disregard the pain as just another rhythm of his body. Soon he found himself looking to other matters.

He felt extremely comfortable. Far more comfortable than he had been in his bed within his drafty attic room and, in fact far more comfortable than he had ever been. Then he both heard and felt a second faint pulsing rhythm resonating around him. It came from all sides at once, and it relaxed him. Toothless. He was enveloped within his dragon’s embrace. And there was no place better. He almost stopped caring about what had happened before his long sleep. Unfortunately as soon as he thought about that, it all came back to him.

He had been struck with an axe, seen tons of images while his head felt as if it were on the brink of exploding, then he had started imagining that Toothless was speaking to him. His friend had asked him for permission to enter his mind. Then his memory was dark. He assumed that he had fallen back to sleep. Hopefully his head was in a better condition now.

_ "I was wondering when you would wake up. That was faster than I expected." _ He froze. That same voice was bouncing around inside his head. The sound of it was beautiful, like music. It was rich and resonating, dark and warm. It was like a memory, but he had never heard someone speak with that voice. And yet it still sounded familiar.  _ "Hiccup you did hit your head, but I doubt it was hard enough to cause you to hallucinate to this extent. It's me. Toothless. I'm right here." _ He felt Toothless shift around him and he opened his eyes. Then a wing pulled away and two enormous green eyes peered down at him.

"Toothless, if that's really you talking, why are you talking?" Toothless blinked and he felt a chuckle roll through his friends chest.

_ "I talk very often. The problem of course, is that you humans are too thick skulled to pay me heed." _ Ok that was a little more confusing an answer than he had hoped for.

"Are you telling me that you have been speaking the entire time I've known you, and I just haven't been able to hear you?"

_ "Hiccup, did you think I was some dumb beast? Giving my affection blindly in return for care and food? Did you think me a pet?” _ He was horrified. Was that what Toothless thought of him?

"No!" he protested, "I saw the intelligence in your eyes! I could see that you cared! And I cared about you! You were never a pet to me."

_ "Hiccup, I will ask this of you again. And this time I hope that you will remain conscious." _ He tensed.  _ "Hiccup will you share your mind with me?" _

In a way this made sense. Toothless wasn't moving his mouth or making any noise, the dragon's voice was bouncing around inside his head. So how else could he be communicating except for some form of mental connection? And to what extent was this connection? What did it mean that they had it?

"Was that…" he swallowed, "what made my head hurt so badly before?" The expression on his friends face fell, and became mournful.

_ "Yes. And it was my fault. I didn't realize that you were the mind I was communing with. I tried to share too much, too fast. I almost killed you.”  _ The dragon made a soft ‘chuff’ and looked away.  _ “You experienced some of the key points in my life before I met you. I'm so very sorry Hiccup. I want to do things right this time." _

He lay there and considered for a very long time. By the sounds of it he would be opening his mind in essence himself, to be shared with his friend. The thought made him feel even warmer than he already was. They would be closer than anyone else could be.

"Toothless. Please help me understand this. Help me see."

And there, he was suddenly aware of an odd tickle. He could not have put it into words. Surely no one had ever experienced this before. He was aware of his mind. It was as if a feather was tickling against the inside of his skull. In the same way one might feel the eyes of someone else by the tightening of one's skin, Hiccup could feel a massive and intimidating presence all around him. Perhaps that was Toothless.

_ "Hiccup, I will not allow any harm to come to you. Come forth, close your eyes, and see." _ He let his eyes slide shut and with his new sense of the world around him; he pushed outward to the larger presence surrounding him… And touched it.

Warmth, shadow, and sound enveloped him. It was as if music had been given a tactile feel, and a look. He watched as filaments of shadow spun, twisted, congealed, stretched and wound around him. They were all the world consisted of. Then he began to know things. He felt Toothless' mind nudge against his, more than once, and with each nudge, came new knowledge. 

He knew that Night Furies inhabited the ice lands of the far north. He knew that they communicated with each other through direct, mental contact. He knew that humans such as himself, were unable to comprehend this contact. He knew that Toothless had flown south as soon as he was able, to escape the land where his mother had died. And he knew, that his was the first mind that Toothless had touched in this way, for many, many winters. Toothless was feeling a joy far beyond any kind of happiness that he had before experience. For a few more brief seconds, they remained, minds touching, feeling what the other felt.

Then they broke apart, and his eyes opened. He stared up at Toothless in wonder. Toothless stared back with sheer joy. He needed to stand up. To move. To do something. This was far too amazing to keep still. Immediately Toothless began to unwrap himself. How had he known?

_ "I'm sorry Hiccup but you're like a hatchling."  _ He felt rather annoyed at that. He was sixteen after all.  _ "I mean that your mind is very new to this. You're broadcasting most of what you think for anyone to hear who can. You wanted to get up, and I heard you thinking so."  _ He placed an arm on the ashy ground to lift himself up. Now that Toothless wasn't obscuring his view, he could see the moonlight raining down on the cove.

That was when he was reminded of his shoulder. As he placed pressure on it a dull ache hit his shoulder. Looking down, he saw that the material of his tunic was cleanly split around the ax wound. The wound itself was crusted over with dry blood. Odd. Astrid's throw should have nearly chopped his arm completely off. Yet he was barely impeded by the wound. He rolled his shoulder around a bit. It was a little achy but that was about it. That wasn't natural.

"Toothless. How long was I asleep?"

_ "You slept for about one half of your hours." _

"Do you have anything to do with my shoulder's healing with no medical treatment of any kind?"

_ "No. I cleaned the wound as best I could but I'm no miracle worker."  _ Great. So his shoulder was now miraculously healed, and only the gods knew why. Lovely. Suddenly he looked rapidly around.

"Where's Astrid?" Toothless was now getting to his feet, stretching as he went.

_ "She left just a little after you fell asleep."  _ It would take her at least an hour to reach the village. She was probably only half way there. If he were in the village when she got back, it would discredit any wild stories of dragons and devils that she had to tell. Toothless must remain secret! If the Vikings caught even a hint of this his dragon would be in terrible danger! He was grounded without Hiccup. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon.

Toothless heaved a huge sigh behind him.  _ "Very well if we must then we must. Come on."  _ Toothless beckoned with his head. Hiccup ran to him and gave him a huge hug around the neck, before lifting himself into the saddle.

 

XXX

Astrid

Half way. She had to be half way at the very least. Hiccup. He had leapt in front of her ax. She had thrown an instrument of death straight into him. She had to tell the village. A Night Fury was nesting nearby. How else could Hiccup have known where to find it day after day? They would come out in force. The entire village would hunt this one dragon to its death. And then Hiccup would be free. 

She could still feel her skin crawl as she remembered it's large forked tongue caressing the inside of Hiccup's jaw. The thing would die. One thing nagged at her though. Why hadn't the beast killed her? She had seen murder in its eyes when the ax had found Hiccup's shoulder. 

Then, it had paused, glanced back at Hiccup, and brought its tail around instead for a non lethal blow to the head. It had happened so quickly that she could not have prepared for it. It connected solidly with her skull. Now she had a goose egg on the side of her head, and she didn't feel too happy about it. No matter. It didn't change her action. She continued at a brisk pace toward the village.

 

XXX

Toothless

Joy engulfed him like a cloud. The time's when he was aloft with his Hiccup had served as the happiest times of his life. Now it was so much better. He could feel Hiccup's mind hovering very close to his. The only problem was that mind was full of anxiety. Ever since he had found out that the human female had set out for the village his mind was nothing but a confusing maelstrom of worry. The concern was so intense that it had even interfered with his own thoughts once or twice. All this worry was focused on him. The boy had forgotten himself completely. He had forgotten about his shoulder, about the pain. That was a concern to Toothless. His Hiccup was in constant mind numbing pain. Yet Hiccup barely spared it a thought!

He reached out and touched the boy’s mind. His eyes still showed him a view of the coastal cliffs over which he was flying, the trees whizzing past in a blur, and the waves crashing into the cliffs base, silver in the moonlight. But his inner eye showed him a familiar sight. A large room created of golden mist. It swirled and undulated, yet maintained the general shape of the interior of a great human hall.

He radiated feelings of calm and certainty. The Vikings were never going to touch him. He felt the boy start to relax just a bit.  _ "Now look at it this way. No matter what happens down in that village, I will be waiting just inside the tree line. We will keep in constant contact, and we will leave at the first sign of trouble. We possess an advantage, and that is the fact that no one except Astrid is aware of me. Furthermore not even Astrid knows that we can silently communicate.  _ Hiccup was calmer now and he smiled slightly.

"I suppose I am over reacting just a bit. But Toothless I don't want you anywhere near the village!"

_ "Hiccup I refuse to argue with you. I remain in contact with you at all times or you're not going in there." _ His rider cast around for some kind of argument or clever comment but he came up with nothing.  _ "Good."  _ In the distance light could be seen above the horizon.

The village came into view. Most of the buildings were fully reconstructed and only a few still displayed signs of damage.  _ "You humans are industrious. Like little ants running around and fixing their hill no matter how many times it gets knocked over." _

"Yeah. And they think just as much too." He smiled and angled his wings for a descent to the forest. The trees rose up to meet them and then engulfed them. Their landing was far more graceful than any of their first bumbling attempts. His boy leapt out of the saddle. "Alright. You stay right here in this clearing. I will stay in the village for about half of the day, and then we can go. If nothing goes wrong anyway."

_ "Fine but I will be with you at all times. Now go shoo."  _ Hiccup turned his back and started in the direction of the village with a slightly confused look over his shoulder. He leapt into a tree and secured himself from a bough by means of his tail and hung with his wings wrapping tightly around himself. The pine needles tickled and rubbed at his scales. Good he was about as well hidden as he could hope for. Keeping one eye open he cast his mind out and joined Hiccup. The hall of misty golden light shifted, and formed itself into surroundings.

 

XXX

Hiccup

He felt it when Toothless joined him. He felt the brush of his mind, and then things began to change. His vision blurred at first, then sharpened into an image so clear he felt as if he were seeing for the first time. The world gained a slightly bluish tinge, and the outline of each and every tree, rock, and shrub seemed to be outlined in a cyan glow. He could see details at a distance that was very disorienting. The sounds of the forest sharpened as well. He could hear the hoot of an owl that he was sure was way too far away. The close up sounds were now much louder, the sound of the rustling branches was now an impeding hiss in the air.

"Well this is different."

_ "What?" _

"You don't see this?"

_ "The forest?" _

"No not the.. Oh never mind."

_ "The forest looks just as it always does Hiccup." _

"Well then maybe this is just how you see.

_ "You know you should probably stop talking to me out loud. It will look a little odd if you walk into the village talking to yourself. _

"Well hey I never really thought about that. I guess I could try….  _ Can you hear me?" _

_ "Yes I can hear you quite well. Now, let's go take on a village full of Vikings!" _

He stepped past the last trees, and out into the open section of ground between the forest and the first houses. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and he could see the first stirrings of activity. It felt very safe walking into the village with Toothless beside him. He could feel his friend's presence all around him, protective and alert. It bolstered his courage as he strode out into the streets.

He could feel Toothless examining every single detail of the village while he looked around. As the sun's light increased he made his way through the town toward the Great Hall. Many of the Vikings he passed called out cheerful greetings. Hiccup could only manage a weak smile back at any of them. He found himself staring at them. 

They seemed so... squat, and unbalanced. They lacked what anyone could call grace.  When Toothless walked, it was like a dance. His scales reflected the light of the moon and stars, yet he could still slip into the shadows like a ghost should he desire it. Toothless was beautiful.

_ "Not that I'm not flattered Hiccup, but could you possibly pay just a little more attention to our path? We've gone passed that large building we were headed for."  _ Toothless' voice had a smile in it. He blushed and reversed direction heading back towards the Great Halls' door. His thoughts about Toothless had changed somewhat. He shook his head and shouldered his way past the door.

Inside it was smokey and warm from the hall's cook fires. He made his way through the haze toward the large counter that served as a windowed passage to the kitchens. He took a plate of steaming cod and boiled turnips. The things were repulsive but they had to be eaten in order to maintain health. He also grabbed a flagon of mead on his way to his table. He had only started drinking the stuff in the last year or so, the taste was a little repulsive but the bracing effects got one started in the morning.

It was then that his own personal storm descended upon him. As soon as he sat down Fishlegs materialized in front of him. The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were next, followed by Snotlout. They were all talking at once and he remained silent. His heightened hearing was being thoroughly abused by the onslaught.

_ "Hiccup do these children ever stop talking? It's really quite painful." _

_ "Sorry, one moment."  _ He spoke. "HEY!" The four other teenagers fell silent. "I can't figure out what any of you are trying to say. One at a time please." Snotlout was the first to speak up.

"Where the heck have you been cuz! No one has seen you since you totally took out that Gronkle the day before yesterday!" Hmm. It seemed that all of a sudden Snotlout wasn't ashamed to be related to him anymore. How very convenient.

"I've been… um… Hunting. Yeah hunting. Just spendin a day or two in the woods you know?" 

It was clear from the looks on their faces that they most certainly did  _ not  _ know. But then they were so used to not having any idea what he talked about that they didn't even give his answer a second thought. They began babbling again to him and at each other about the final exam. The epic battle that would take place between Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare. It should be happening today but the repairs had set the village back a bit.

The teenagers were so loud. A horrible odor hung around most of them. He needed to escape. He left the rest of his food on his plate and quickly got up from the table and made his way toward the entrance. The youths were so busy talking about Hiccup that they had not even notice him leaving. At long last he felt fresh air again. 

Then Toothless whispered,  _ "Uh oh." _

And he could see the reason for it too, or rather reasons. There on the edge of town Astrid staggered into view. Her hair was full of leaves and twigs and there were a lot of small tears in her clothing. It looked as though she’d plowed straight through a large chunk of the forest on her way here. At the same time, down by the cliffs, he could see a very familiar figure coming into view as it ascended the scaffolding. Stoick The Vast, had returned to Berk.


	9. Vikings

Stoick

It had been a long trip back. Too long. Much of the supplies they had brought with them on the raid, had gone down with the other ships, as well as the crew of those ships. Half of his party. That was all that he had managed to save. And very few of that half did not have injuries. Sheer luck had been the only thing that saved them from sinking.

Had the sea become even the slightest bit rough, they would have been dragged to the depths. But the sky had stayed blue and sunny for the entirety of their slow, painful voyage home. It was almost like the gods were mocking them. The meager supplies onboard the sole surviving ship had run out in just a few days. The conditions aboard were crowded and several of his villagers were beginning to develop illness. Gothi would have a long week ahead of her if they made it back alive.

When the ship had limped a good way into the harbor, he felt his heart drop directly into his stomach. Scorches marks and splintered wood covered the dock. Everywhere he looked he saw some form of damage. And the only villagers there to greet them on their return, were two Vikings with heavy bandaging, one had most of his upper right arm encased, while the other had the cloth wrapped around his head. Both cloths were saturated in blood.

With dull, almost vacant expressions on their faces, the two men, one of which he recognized as Hoark, pulled the ship alongside one of the few piers that remained intact, and secured the lines to both bow and stern. Slowly, he pulled himself upwards and rested his foot on the wood of the dock. It creaked with a mournful, pained sound.

"What’s happened? Where is everyone else?" Usually a large party was down at the docks this time of the morning, either sending out the fishing fleet, or else receiving the catch of returning ships.

"A raid Stoick. Two nights ago. A horrible raid. They were out for blood. I've never seen dragons fight like that. They didn't just go after the food. They tried to kill as many of us as they could." As he spoke, Hoark's eyes took on a vacant expression, like he was staring at something in front of him that wasn't visible to anyone else.

He nodded to Hoark, though he wasn't sure if the man saw him, and continued past him, and upwards toward the village on the cliff's summit. It was a long trek, and his lack of real sleep over the past week only made it more difficult. Each small step, caused a pained creak from the scaffolding, and a silent groan that never reached his throat. All he wanted to do was collapse into his bed and let the entire world wait until he was ready. But it seemed that the dragons were not inclined to allow that. As he and the other villagers from the raid crossed the line between wood, and the stone solidity of the cliffs, a collective gasp rolled out from the group behind him.

His own throat was closed. Frozen.

The sight before him was devastating. Most of the villages dwellings and building had burned to the ground. Hoark had said the raid had occurred two nights ago and he had assumed that the villagers would have finished repairing the damage in one day, two at the most. And yet here it was, three days later, and the destruction was still visible, and hardly remedied. He should have deduced the intensity of the situation from the bandages that the two men had worn at the docks. Both should have been changed long ago. But from the look of the few villagers crawling over the roofs and wreckage, making what repairs they could, it seemed there wasn't enough bandages to go around. The smell of burning permeated the air. It wasn't even merely wood smoke either. He scented burnt flesh and sickly sweet smell of death. The sun glared down in an impudent fashion, the one time they had received warm weather in the autumn season, and it came on a day like this? Fate had an ugly sense of humor.

He felt the final hope of rest and bed drain from his mind. He could see Gobber limping toward him on a crutch, with what looked like a broken femur above his prosthetic leg.

"So! You've come back! Damn good thing too. I can only manage so well. To put things simply, we're in trouble. Most of our flocks are scattered, what few autumn crops we had have been trampled. An' by the looks of you and your face, you didn't manage to take out the nest."

Stoick sighed heavily. "We didn't even come close. Not only that, half of my party is gone. Drowned, or else burnt to ash." Gobber's face crumpled as what little composure he had left gave out.

"Many of the villagers you left behind were killed as well Stoick." He felt his face deflate, and he looked at the few villagers he could see. Most of them had the puffy red eyes of mourners. They wouldn't allow anyone to see their tears in public, but it was obvious who had lost someone. And those that had lost someone appeared to be the majority.

"Please old friend," he could feel his voice shaking and teetering, "let me take a moment in my house and let this sink in. I need a few minutes. Just to set things straight in my head." It pained him to display any kind of weakness to those who looked up to him, but he knew that he would be of no use to anyone until he could think straight. Gobber sighed.

"Aye Stoick I can do that for ye." He watched his lifetime companion limp away on his crutch, over the ash covered streets, then turned towards his own home. As he stared at his home he noticed that it was whole, and undamaged. One wall was scorched where the blazing house beside it had heated its surface but beyond that, the house was completely untouched. This in itself was odd. Usually the house was missing its roof at the very least. It had been necessary to pull Hiccup out of the house as it came down around their ears when the boy was younger and didn't rouse so easily.

This thought brought him up short. Hiccup. His son. The destroyer of villages and killer of not a single dragon. Where was he? How much of the damage to the village had he caused? Was he safe?

It was then that Stoick noticed two things which brought him to a halt. One was his son who, to his relief, seemed mostly unharmed, though he did have a gash in his tunic, just where his shoulder met the rest of his body. Through the gap he could see a long straight line of red, though it seemed to not be bleeding. Hiccup however was rigid, and his eyes darted between his father and something beyond him. He glanced behind to see if he could see what the boy was looking at. The only thing he noticed behind him was Astrid, who also seemed to be completely frozen and staring past him towards Hiccup. She was breathing heavily and her shoulders shook with every breath, as if she had recently run to her very limits. She too alternated rapidly between staring at him and Hiccup behind him, her eyes were hard and unyielding. What was going on?

Stoick glanced back and forth between the two of them. They were both intent on each other, neither moving or making a sound. Then Hiccup abruptly turned and began striding quickly towards the house. He turned and looked at the girl. She stared at Hiccup's back as he walked briskly away. She was pale, and looked more than a little scared. Now that his son had strode away, she seemed to be loosening, her arm moved slightly, and she crossed both arms and shivered.

"Astrid, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Astrid's eyes widened slightly and her lower lip twitched. She slowly opened her mouth, and looked as if she was having difficulty forming words. After about a minute she finally said,

"d- Dr- Dragon." Her voice shook like a leaf in high wind.

"Dragon?"

"Dragon."

"What dragon girl? Speak."

"i- In the w- woods. Dragon in the woods!" She was starting to make loud gasping noises.

"Oy!" Several villagers looked up. "One of you get her to the Great Hall and see that she's fed and has something to wet her tongue. When she's calmed down a bit bring her to me." Astrid fell into hysterics as Stoick strode away and up the steps of his house. A dragon? In the woods? It couldn't be. Dragons never lingered on Berk. They came, they pillaged, they ran. That was how it always worked. The girl had probably just seen some shadow in the woods, a trick of light and texture.

Once he'd shouldered his way past the door, and let it fall shut behind him, he allowed his pack to slip from his fingers and he trudged slowly across the room to collapse in his chair. There was a fire lit in the hearth, Hiccup's work no doubt.

Stoick turned back toward the door to see that Hiccup had followed him back into the house. The boy’s rigid posture and distant eyes had not shifted.

“I see you managed a wound in this past raid. Has it been seen to?”

"Yes dad. It’s fine." The voice was very strange, flat and monotone. Stoick knew the many different changes that a man's voice could make, and what they usually signified. It was something he had slowly learned through his role as chief. You could tell a man's opinion and feeling, by how they spoke. But the sounds that emanated now from Hiccup's throat, held no inflection at all. It was as if Hiccup wasn't feeling anything. He turned and focussed his full attention on his son.

Hiccup had closed the door behind him and now leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"Hiccup, did you cause any of the destruction out there?" It had been the first thought to pop into his head. It probably wasn't the best way to start a conversation after his extended leave of absence, but there was no retracting his words.

"No."

"No?" This was a surprise. Hiccup was truthful if nothing else, and during raids he almost always managed to break something.

"No. I was sleeping." Of course. The only time he wasn't breaking the various destructible parts of the village during raids, was when he slept right through them. His voice was still troubling though, it had not changed or revealed anything at all in those short words.

"Did the Elder give you any special instructions for that gash? I didn't get a good look but it didn't seem too bad." Hiccup glanced down at his right shoulder and shook his head.

"I'm fine." Stoick was starting to become worried now. Hiccup had never acted like this. He was always brimming with words. So many words as to prove a near constant nuisance. Now he was silent and stone faced. His features hadn't changed once during their exchange either.

"You sound… Tired. Do you need rest? I'm sure you've worn yourself out helping with the repairs." Hiccup's expression remained blank, not even a single twitch of the eyes. "If that's the case then you should go get some rest." Silently Hiccup pushed off the wall, turned and disappeared up the stairs. This was concerning. Something must have happened to him. Maybe he had been traumatized by the sight of so many dead and wounded. He had seen far older men than Hiccup become frozen with shock and grief. Yes, that had to be it. What else would cause such a sullen reaction from that little sprig of sarcasm?

He had no idea how much time had passed, when there was a knock at the door.

 

XXX

Hiccup

That could have gone far worse. He lay sprawled on his bed.  _ "Did I sound even remotely normal?" _

_ "No. You sounded like something dead. It was really rather disconcerting. Are you sure that was a good idea?"  _ Hiccup remembered the surge of hatred that had passed through him when he saw his father. One moment he thought they were doomed, and the next, he didn't care. Anger had flooded his mind and a red haze had descended on his vision. The burning pain that coursed through every part of his body peaked and it felt as though his bones were aflame. At the sight of the helmet his father wore, he had wanted to leap upon him and tear his throat out. He had imagined how very satisfactory it would be. To feel the blood of his enemies flowing freely over his hands, to smell its salty tang, and to hear the flesh give way. For a brief moment he had been ready to rip his own father to shreds.

" _ Of course it was a good idea. My father would have thought me insane!" _

Then Toothless had intervened. His vastly larger mind had enveloped him and frozen him in place. Then the anger had been slowly siphoned off and into Toothless, who promptly released the tension by sinking his teeth with a guttural snarl into a bough of the tree he hung from.

Then when he had had to talk to his father, he had asked Toothless to do it again, but without the anger, there was no emotion left to fill the void. And he didn't even know why he was angry. Then just before he had trudged back up the stairs, he had looked at his father's back, and thought  _ "Viking." _ The word had carried venom in his mind.

He knew he carried a distaste for the Viking way of life, but he had never imagined he was capable of imagining such horrible things!

" _ I think it might be partially my fault." _ Those words jerked Hiccup from his reverie.

" _ What? What do you mean?" _

" _ I mean that some of my emotions and thoughts might have overlapped your own. I know for a fact that I hate Vikings, and I would not hesitate to kill them. Your mind treated my thoughts as your own when it saw a Viking." _

" _ So wait, am I going to walk around town for the rest of my life trying to stop myself from killing people?" _

" _ Oh I don't think so. Now that you know how our joint minds work... sort of, you should be able to control your anger."  _ Hiccup was silent then. And he thought for a long time about this new development. He could now share a link with Toothless, and be closer to him than he ever had the ability to be with anyone before. But that was having consequences. His distaste for Vikings had now waxed into anger. Hatred even. Was that a bad thing?

This last thought caught him by surprise. He was a Viking too wasn't he? No. He had never been one of them. He had always been apart. And now he had Toothless. He had a true friend and a true family. And maybe even something mor- He stopped that thought in its tracks.

Toothless snorted with amusement and then started to occupy himself by blowing smoke from his nostrils in such a way as to create patterns in the air. His chuckles were forcing him to unfold slightly.

" _ And just what are you laughing at?"  _ He glanced out the window above his bed to see that the sky was already a deep shade of blue, it was probably progressing past noon about now.

" _ I am laughing at you."  _ The dragon began convulsing and gurgling his amusement to the world.

" _ Well shut up would you? I'm trying to think!"  _ Toothless stopped laughing and once again encased himself in his wings.

" _ You are thinking about questions whose answers are dangling right in front of you." _

" _ What?" _

" _ You were born to Vikings yet you are not one. You share a mental link with me, a dragon, a different species. You care not a single little bit for the wellbeing of other human beings, yet you have the ultimate concerns for me, a dragon. You are simply less human than those around you." _

Hiccup stared at the ceiling. He didn't really feel the same anymore he now realized. He knew for one that if he had tried to remain in this exact position, with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed, for as long as he had, he would have cramped up long ago. Yet his body was utterly relaxed. He felt the difference in the pain that pulsed in time with his heart just below his skin. He heard the difference in the sound of his father shifting in his chair on the floor below him, something he would never have heard before. He saw the difference in each tiny minute grain of wood in the ceiling. He could see it in detail beyond any he had before experienced. His room now smelt dusty and dry, he could smell the musk of the wool rug the middle of the floor.

He was different. He had not been like this until… When had these changes started?

_ "Right when you woke. After Astrid smote you with her ax. When you felt that ax bury itself in your flesh, I felt my own flesh rend, as if it had been me. The barrier between our minds suddenly snapped, and we joined for the first time."  _ As Toothless spoke, Hiccup relived the memory only this time from his friend's point of view. He watched himself jump in front of the spinning weapon. He felt it as the ax pierced his flesh again, and this time. He heard Toothless roar in pain. Then he smiled slightly as Astrid was hit by Toothless' tail.

His hand unconsciously drifted to the wound in his shoulder and touched it. He froze. He felt no pain, yet he froze nonetheless. The injury did not feel like an injury. It was hot and smooth. And as Hiccup prodded it, he discovered that it was above all, hard. Very hard. He glanced down at the wound. The blood that had sealed the seam was now changing, from its current amber-like state, and darkening. It already looked almost black. It seemed his physical body was changing as well as his mind. This could be tricky to explain.

Then below him, he heard a knock at the door.


	10. Listenings

Toothless

The sound startled Hiccup.  
The boy had been considering the strange nature of his wound, when the harsh knocking resounded through the house. Almost before the sound had finished Hiccup had sprung to his feet. He didn't notice anything different, but Toothless saw that his gait had changed. He sprung in a single fluid motion off the bed, and landed on the balls of his feet, absorbing all of the impact in his knees. As a result, his landing on the floor made no sound whatsoever and as he walked, he never dropped off the balls of his feet so his stride was silent as well, his knees constantly flexed. He quickly whipped off his tunic and tossed it over his head, where he knew it would land somewhere near the bed. He crossed to the small chest against the far wall and donned a new tunic that covered the mark on his shoulder, and quickly, silently, strode toward the door.

Directly outside the door was the staircase that would take him down to the first floor. Hiccup only descended the stairs half way. There in the center of the room was Stoick in the midst of walking towards the door. Both his own and Hiccup's anger flared, but he had been correct. Hiccup, now forewarned, was able to keep control of his own emotion, though his upper lip still lifted in a silent snarl. That rather amused Toothless. As far as he knew, humans didn't snarl, or make any similar gesture with their lips. But apparently his Hiccup did.

Then a strange urge overtook Hiccup. He knew that whoever it was at the door would want to speak to his father concerning matters of the village, but what if it was Astrid? He didn't want to be seen. Still as silent as a hunting dragon, Hiccup leapt off the stairs and caught one of the rafters that supported the floor of his bedroom; or rather the entire second story, and lifted himself up into the shadows supplied by the covered windows and many beams of wood.

" _ You're becoming quite agile."  _ Hiccup started and became confused.

" _ What do you mean?" _

" _ You were never able to swing yourself around in such high places before, with only the power of your arms. On the night I came to get you, you leapt right out of your second floor window and hoisted yourself onto the roof without appearing to exert yourself." _

" _ Hmm, I guess I did. That's weird I never even thought about it! I just kinda.." _

" _ Did it?"  _ He chuckled as he finished Hiccup's sentence for him. That was when Stoick opened the door.

"Ahh there you are Gobber. And Astrid as well. Good, good come in, please." Hiccup tensed and froze in place, crouched on top of a rafter in a gloomy corner. They would not notice him unless they were really looking. The three Vikings sat down in chairs by the fire making loud creaking noises as they did.

"Gobber, your report first please." Gobber took in a deep breath and let it out as he scratched the place where his false leg met his flesh.

"It's not looking good Stoick. They fell on us like a rain of fire. We only had half of the village available as you know. We were outnumbered at the very least ten to one. I've never seen so many dragons in one sky before. The defense was not well coordinated either. We lost at least half of those that fought. Most of the residences have burned down. I was stuck in the shop for the whole night without Hiccup's help though I was able to keep the stall from burning. We have a temporary living and medical quarters set up in the Great Hall, cause it's the only place big enough."

" _ That's strange. I didn't think the damage looked nearly as bad when I was out there. _ _  
_ _ And the other teens didn't seem to be overly concerned either." _

_ "You weren't exactly paying much attention to the carnage though now were you? You were too busy comparing humans to my own glory. And that pack of adolescent savages wouldn't notice something serious unless it walked up and bit them." _

"You're telling me that they attacked and stole nothing? The objective was to kill?" Stoick pressed. Gobber only responded with a grim nod. “I suppose we have some small victory to be thankful for. We’re well supplied to last the winter.”

" _ Humans are so very vulnerable. They have to rely on food that is pre stored and seared until it's barely even food anymore. It's far better to hunt down a young buck when you are hungry, or fish up something with scales."  _ His comment distracted Hiccup entirely.

" _ I didn't know that you could eat red meat! I thought you lived entirely on fish!" _

" _ Actually I didn't realize that I could eat it either until very recently. But eventually _ _  
_ _ I became hungry enough to try it, and it turned out to be quite tasty."  _ He felt Hiccup join him in reliving his memory of his first taste of venison. They were completely engrossed in talk of hunting and Hiccup was just demanding that he be taken on the next hunting trip, when below they heard Stoick say,

"Now then Astrid. What's all this fuss about dragons?" Hiccup stiffened yet again and kept himself absolutely still. Astrid took a deep breath, and launched into her story.

"Hiccup always disappeared after dragon training. And nobody ever knew where he went. I was determined to find out. I followed him away from the village and into the woods. He found out I was following him though and he got very angry. While I was leaving, I saw this huge black dragon walking through the trees. It didn't notice me though, so I ran back to the village. No one would have believed me so I decided to wait and tell you when you returned sir." Astrid fell silent and slumped into her chair.

" _ Ha! She didn't even try to involve me in the story! I'm a little put out. How dare she down play my role!" _

" _ You're getting enough attention as it is as a mighty dragon  _ slayer  _ within the ring."  _ Hiccup gave a little half smile.

" _ With me in the village she can't tell the truth because the truth involves her lopping my arm half off." _

" _ Although it's a little weird that your arm wasn't crippled at the very least. Did I ever show you what happened after you fell unconscious? _

" _ No." _

Memory flooded Hiccup's mind. He saw himself lying prone on the ground, the threat of Astrid had been dealt with. He saw through Toothless' eyes the care with which he nudged and prodded the ax, until it fell from his body with a sickening squelch. He felt no pain however as his body had not been alert to feel it. Toothless then destroyed the ax, in his mind cleansing the evil object with fire. That object had violated the sanctity of HIS Hiccup's body. And it therefore had to be destroyed. Once that was done, he returned to his Hiccup and began cleaning the wound. That was when strange things started to happen. 

He watched in fascination as his shoulder began to twitch and spasm, as if there was something running around beneath the surface of his skin! The joint was moving slightly and through Toothless' ears he heard small grindings and crunches. It sounded like bone knocking and scraping together. Then he noticed that with every twitch and crunch, his shoulder shifted into more and more regular positions. The ax had definitely hit bone and shifted many things away from where they should be. Now before Toothless' eyes, they moved back and mended of their own accord. Then Hiccup through Toothless noticed something even stranger. Behind his own closed eyelids, a soft green light was emanating. It looked almost as if he would find a green flame if he were to peel back those eyelids. Eventually however, the glow faded, and the shoulder ceased its movements.

He felt Hiccup come back to himself.

_ "What do you make of THAT?"  _ His boys head was spinning. Theory after theory came whizzing into his mind and then out again each more ludicrous then the last, faster and faster until it got to the point where Hiccup was starting to lose control of his own thoughts. Toothless  administered a small mental slap. Hiccups mind ceased it's raging and was silent.  _ "Hiccup, our lives are just getting stranger by the hour. And by the looks of it, it's only going to become more and more abnormal. You need to take a deep breath, and stop freaking out when something weird happens okay?" _ Slowly, very slowly, Hiccup’s breathing slowed and his heart rate calmed.

_ "I guess after I accepted conversations with a dragon so readily, I don't really have much of a reason to freak out about this. _

"…absolutely sure? It wasn't just some shadow? Maybe even a large wolf?" Hiccup started he'd been distracted from the conversation below yet again.

"Sir I saw it in the plain light of day. There isn't any wolf I know of that is plated in scales, and has wings on its back." Stoick heaved an enormous sigh, and seemed to slump slightly in his chair. The room was silent and all eyes were on the chief, watching for his reaction. For a few minutes the enormous man was utterly motionless.

Finally, a low and rumbling voice said, "If there is a dragon in our woods, it is most likely injured. That is the only reason I can think of for any dragon to linger on Berk. It must be grounded, and it will therefore be vulnerable. Though it will be desperate, and for that we must take precaution. As soon as the repairs are complete and we can scrape together enough members for a hunting party, we will take vengeance for this latest of their atrocities."

It felt as though a Stone had dropped into Hiccup's chest. He had stopped breathing; his heart had actually skipped a couple of beats. A cold sweat had broken out across most of his body and his mind kept repeating the same words, over and over again.

We will take vengeance. We WILL take vengeance We will take VENGEANCE!

_ "Hiccup!" _ No response.

_ "HICCUP!" _

Hiccup's reply was dull and monotone.  _ "They're going to hunt you Toothless. They won't stop. Vikings have stubbornness issues. They want to kill you."  _ And with that last thought a flame of fury burst to life within the cold blank confines of the boy’s mind. Rage was consuming  his boy, making his muscles tense and his lip curl back.

With barely a split second to spare, Toothless enveloped Hiccup's mind with his own. The boy's contracted muscles locked as Hiccup struggled to wrestle back control of his body. He had been a tiny second away, from leaping down onto his father and tearing at his flesh with his bare hands. The silent struggle continued as Gobber heaved himself up and left to supervise some portion of the village repairs. Astrid stayed. Hiccup suddenly changed focus. Astrid. She had already tried to hurt Toothless. She deserved to die!

Hiccup's mind however was somewhat underdeveloped. He had no idea how to shield his thoughts so as to prevent Toothless' control. It was easy to hold the boy in check until he had calmed, though that calming took a rather long time. As the girl and the chief sat staring into the flames of the hearth below, Hiccup slowly regained control of his emotions. Finally Toothless released him and his rigid body relaxed and slumped against the beam at his back.

_ "Thank you Toothless. I- I don't know what came over me."  _ Before Toothless could say anything a voice from below said,

"Excuse me chief, but is Hiccup here? Could I talk to him?"

"He's upstairs resting, but you could go and check to see if he's awake." Now it was Toothless' turn to tense. What right did SHE have to be in the same room alone with HIS Hiccup? How dare she? She who had wounded him in such a way! Hiccup was already in motion, swinging down under the rafters behind the backs of the Vikings. His feet landed silently on the middle of the staircase just as he heard Astrid rise to her feet. With silent feet he climbed the stair quickly and charged through the open door of his room. Throwing his Tunic off toward the chest he sprawled across his bed waited, with one eye cracked open to observe the door.

Astrid came slowly into view. First the top of her head, then the rest of her body followed. Toothless felt his lip curl and a guttural snarl ripped its way through his throat.

_ "Don't worry bud. She isn't going to try anything in my own house with my father downstairs."  _ Astrid paused at the door before slowly stepping into the room. Each of her steps was accompanied by the rustle of her boots sliding across the wooden floor. She stopped beside the bed and stood staring down at Hiccup.

_ "I don't care; she is still standing FAR too close to you." _

_ "No arguments there. She smells... strange."  _ And it was true. Astrid reeked of a sour odor. She was about as human as you could get. Hiccup was only barely able to control his face, and stop it from contorting into the mask of distaste that it wanted to assume. She smelt nothing like Toothless with his spicy, musky, sweet scent. Just the memory of that scent was enough to make him completely forget about the girl standing over him. Suddenly he found himself sitting in the sunshine alongside Toothless and that feel of the dragon's nose on the skin of his neck. He shivered.

_ "Once again Hiccup, I'm flattered. But you've closed your eye and I don't smell the girl anymore. Perhaps she's gone."  _ For the second time that day, the blood rushed into Hiccup's face. He slowly opened one eye and then the other as it became apparent that there was no one else in the room. Yet the sour odor of human still hung in the air.

" _ The moment that night falls, I'm getting out of here and coming back to you Toothless." _

Toothless felt a very loud purr, vibrate through his chest.


End file.
